Bright Spring

Chapter 894 Treasures of the Western Regions

It was already the beginning of the fifth year of Wude when the good news on the southern ocean arrived at the capital of the Ming Dynasty.

This is already considered to be extremely fast, thanks to the imperial court’s complete post road from Annan Guosongtaiwei to the capital; the post stations and official shops along the road provide fast horses for the messengers, so that the news can reach the capital so quickly.

At the beginning of the new year, Zhu Gaoxu was naturally very happy to receive such news.He immediately asked the Sixth Section Office to copy the memorial and report it to all the yamen of the imperial court. He also ordered Jin Yiwei to go to the city to make a big fanfare and post the transcript of the victory report at all the city gates.To inspire morale.

Since the implementation of the New Deal, there have been many hidden dangers, but they can still be maintained for the time being.

However, within the civil servants, because the power to collect business taxes in various places has been brought back to the Shibo Tijusi, the old laws and "rule regulations" have been destroyed, causing various contradictions between Beijing officials and local officials.And when the vassal king was dissatisfied because of the loss of interests, the emperor and the civil servants in the court were grasshoppers on the same rope.

At this time, the navy's victory in the south and the opening of ocean trade channels undoubtedly gave the New Deal a dose of chicken blood.Zhu Gaoxu's mood improved a lot.

In the Hall of Rouyi, the eunuch Wang Gui read out the victory report in public, "...At the end of October 27th in the fourth year, the army encountered the enemy in Saigon Bay, was defeated, chased for dozens of miles, sunk and burned hundreds of enemy ships, beheaded and captured That night, the official army fleet returned to the division and broke into Tien Giang and Dong Nai Rivers. On the 28th, the official army landed on the shore and attacked the Chenla camp, breaking its formation, the enemy was scattered, and corpses were strewn across the field."

"At that time, Siam did not dare to reject the king's teacher, and Manchu added sea ships to the north to join forces with the thieves. The ministers and princes, etc., intended to send their troops south to destroy their country."

There was a lot of discussion in the main hall, and Zhu Gaoxu sat behind the desk with a relaxed expression on his face.

Gao Xianning, Minister of Dali Temple, said: "The local climate is not suitable, the forest is densely covered, and the enemy army is numerous. However, General Chen was able to quickly defeat the enemy's army within two days, and he could not help frightening the world. Well, looking at it now, the Holy Majesty has no weak generals under his command."

Before the navy dispatched troops, many ministers in the DPRK and China opposed the selection of the chief admiral because of Chen Xuan's bad reputation.At this time, Gao Xianning spoke eloquently, everyone pretended to forget, and no one mentioned the past again.

Zhu Gaoxu also spoke highly of Chen Xuan, because Chen Xuan surrendered twice, once surrendered to Zhu Gaoxu's father, and once surrendered to Zhu Gaoxu, can it be said that Chen Xuan surrendered wrongly?

So everyone had to praise one after another: "The Holy One is wise and mighty."

After talking for a while, the ministers left Rouyi Hall and went back.At this time, Zhang Sheng, the commander of Jin Yiwei, walked in from the outside alone without saying a word.

Zhang Sheng took out an envelope from his pocket, stepped forward and put it in front of Zhu Gaoxu.

Zhu Gaoxu picked up something and asked, "What is this?"

Zhang Sheng replied: "There are some brothers in Jinyiwei in the army, whose identities are unknown to everyone. In the messenger team this time, there is a sergeant who belongs to us. He secretly reported some things that were not written in the memorial."

Zhu Gaoxu took out the secret letter to read, but it was very brief.

Zhang Sheng bowed his head and said in a low voice: "I have personally seen that man. At the beginning of November in the fourth year of Wude, Chen Xuan and Wang Jinghong chose a place in Saigon Bay, where they wanted to build a fortress and an envoy city. After that, Wang Jinghong left Saigon Bay. Went to camp at Dong Nai River, but Chen Xuan didn't leave.

A few days later, a Manchuka envoy came to Saigon Bay by boat, and seemed to want to seek peace.But Chen Xuan went in without asking, and drove away the Mancijia envoy without even seeing anyone. "

After hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu was taken aback for a moment, and quickly made a rough guess.He had been with generals in the army all year round, so of course he understood that generals were greedy for merit.Chen Xuan may have been too smooth in Chenla, so he was even more unwilling to miss the great achievement of defeating Mancijia.As for the interests of the Ming court, Chen Xuan has put it in second place.

After being silent for a while, Zhu Gaoxu suddenly tore up the secret letter in his hand and said, "I'll see the result first."

Zhang Sheng bowed and stood beside him, and responded.

Zhu Gaoxu said again: "Don't say this, just pretend it never happened."

"I understand." Zhang Sheng picked up the torn paper on the table, stuffed it into his mouth in front of Zhu Gaoxu, and swallowed it.

Zhu Gaoxu looked at him in astonishment, and said: "I know what happened, your errands are doing well."

Zhang Sheng knelt down and kowtowed: "I thank you and leave."

As soon as the Commander of the Jin Yiwei left, Cao Fu, the young supervisor of the Rites Supervisor, walked in again.

Holding a memorial in his hand, Cao Fu bowed down and said: "Your Majesty, after receiving the memorial from Marquis Ning Yuan (He Fu), Cao Fu hurriedly sent it to the palace. Afraid of delaying the important affairs of the Emperor, the maidservant automatically brought one over."

Zhu Gaoxu, who was a little distracted, immediately came back to his senses when he heard this, and opened He Fu's memorial to read.He first took a rough look and found that He Fu hadn't lost the battle, so he was a little relieved.The content is not good news.

After He Fu became the commander-in-chief of Ningxia, he took a Beijing cavalry to the northwest.Afterwards, he mobilized soldiers and horses from the guards of the Shaanxi Chief Envoy Division (including most of Gansu) and increased them to Ningxia Prefecture.Then he led the army to the north, stationed along the Yellow River, and built forts there; now he asked for the addition of "Ningxia Qianwei".

The Wacha tribes who ran to the Hetao area to graze, gradually found that they had no chance to take advantage of them, so they fled north for the time being.Unexpectedly, the Oirats were not idle, and soon wandered to the west, and carried out a large-scale raid on Hami Kingdom.

Hami State sent people to Ningxia Mansion to ask He Fu for help.However, He Fu, a military officer, could not cross the Hexi Corridor and run so far to save Hami country; so He Fu had no choice but to write a memorial to report the situation in the northwest to the imperial court.

Zhu Gaoxu found a map from a pile of maps, and glanced at the distance between Hami Kingdom and Ningxia Mansion on the map. It was indeed very far.The northwest side is vast and sparsely populated, and it is thousands of miles away at every turn.

In the Nahami Kingdom, there are mainly Mongols, and the king is Su Wang from the former Yuan Dynasty.Later, King Su Anketimur pledged allegiance to Daming, was named King Zhongshun, and actually ruled the Hami area.The Wacha tribes, who are also Mongols, have always had an enmity with King Zhongshun; at the same time, the Eastern Chaga Khanate in the Muslim area of ​​​​the Western Regions is also an enemy of Hami.

The area directly ruled by the Ming court in the west actually only reached the Hexi Corridor and ended at Jiayuguan.As a vassal state that has always been loyal to Ming Dynasty, the Hami Kingdom is an important wedge in the Western Regions.So Hami Kingdom is very important to Ming Dynasty.

Since the Tatars in the east weakened after the Northern Expedition of the Ming Army, the pressure on the east of the Wacha people dropped sharply, and they have been making troubles in the west.Seeing He Fu's memorial, Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but reflect again, was his northern expedition at the beginning of his enthronement really meaningful?

The situation in the country of Hami is really too far away.Zhu Gaoxu had no choice but to put the memorial on hold for the time being.

Since last year, the direction of the imperial court's attack has been the south, because Zhu Gaoxu believes that the south is beneficial and belongs to the direction of active development.There is almost no benefit to the north, but it is also forced to manage armaments...

Because the New Year's Eve hadn't passed yet, and some yamen hadn't opened their seals, Zhu Gaoxu left the court in the afternoon and went to Kunning Palace.

There are guests in Kunning Palace today. It turns out that Princess Baoqing came back to visit relatives.When Princess Baoqing saw the emperor, she made a gesture of saluting.Zhu Gaoxu hurriedly gestured to stop her: "Little aunt can't do it."

Princess Baoqing suddenly showed embarrassment.She is younger than Guo Wei, but she is the youngest daughter of Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, and her seniority in the Zhu family is higher than Zhu Gaoxu.

Zhu Gaoxu said kindly again: "It's good to come back and take a walk often. The father and queen mother are gone, and this is still your natal home."

Bao Qing was a little less nervous, and said briskly: "I grew up in Yan Wang's Mansion, the Holy One and my brothers and sisters are just like my brothers and sisters."

But Zhu Gaoxu still felt that Bao Qing felt alienated from him, mostly because of Zhu Gaochi's affairs.Gao Chi's legs and feet are inconvenient, and he used to live in Yanwang's mansion, so he has a closer relationship with Baoqing.

At this time, Guo Wei waved the colorful chain in her hand, and said, "The rare thing in the Western Regions, Princess Baoqing gave it to me."

Baoqing turned to look at Guo Wei, her expression became more relaxed, and she said with a smile: "I still have a lot, Ah Weng sent people to Beijing and brought back a lot of things. I picked a nice one and gave it to you." Queen."

Hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu asked casually, "The Marquis of Ningyuan is in Ningxia Mansion, where did you find the treasures of the Western Regions?"

Bao Qing thought for a while and said: "I heard that there are envoys from the Western Regions to see Ah Weng."

Zhu Gaoxu said: "The Hami country's envoy?"

Baoqing shook his head and said, "No, it's a Tatar."

Zhu Gaoxu frowned and said, "How could the Tatars be in Ningxia Mansion?"

Guo Wei observed Bao Qing's expression, hurriedly tugged Zhu Gaoxu's sleeve lightly, and smiled at Bao Qing: "Is this a bracelet?"

Bao Qing said enthusiastically, "I wear it on my ankle, and it jingles when I walk barefoot."

Guo Wei said: "It really is a rare item from the Western Regions, why would we wear chains on our feet?"

Although Zhu Gaoxu felt a little strange, he didn't ask Princess Baoqing too much, she was a woman after all.He changed the subject and asked, "How are you doing in the He family?"

Baoqing's cheeks were a little red: "The son-in-law is very kind to me. He takes me around the house every day, and sometimes we go out quietly... Anyway, he is very interesting. When Ah Weng is at home, he is also very polite to me. The whole family When people are eating, grandma always thinks that I eat too little and always adds food for me."

Zhu Gaoxu said with relief: "I have done a good deed. When my father and mother were alive, I loved my little aunt extra. Hearing what you said, I feel relieved."

Guo Wei said: "With the support of the Holy Majesty, who would dare to treat you badly?"